ALCOHOL, DO I HAVE A PROBLEM AND IF I DO, WHAT CAN I DO ABOUT IT?

Alcohol plays a huge role in Western society.
It is consumed in greater and greater amounts and the age of people that drink alcohol is getting younger and younger.
It can cause families to fall apart, fatalities on the roads, health problems, loss of jobs, loss of friends, family alienation, financial difficulties, counteract medication, cause situations that people regret and often can not even recall.
That is just to name a few, the list is endless.


So, what or who is an alcoholic?
Different terms related to alcohol use and classification are related to the amount people drink and the impact on their lives.


Definition - an alcoholic is a person, while alcoholism is the illness.
An alcoholic suffers from alcoholism.
Alcoholism is a long-term (chronic) disease.
Alcoholics are obsessed with alcohol and cannot control how much they consume, even if it is causing serious problems at home, work, and financially.
Alcohol abuse generally refers to people who do not display the characteristics of alcoholism, but still have a problem with it - they are not as dependent on alcohol as an alcoholic is; they have not yet completely lost their control over its consumption.
Moderate alcohol consumption will not generally cause any psychological or physical harm. However, for some individuals, social drinking eventually leads to heavier and heavier alcohol consumption, which does cause serious health and psychological problems.
(Medical news today)


I tend to take a slightly different approach than some counselors when working with people that consume a lot of alcohol and that is to look at the underlying cause.


What makes someone drink in the first place?
Some of the factors are:
- people being brought up in a family where excessive drinking was the norm
- it may be from social pressure
- it may be a way of "self medicating" to deal with depression, anxiety and other illnesses
- it may be to escape from the realities of life
- it may be that they feel they need it to be confident
- it may be to try and treat insomnia


It is important to try and determine why you drink.
If you can identify this you can address the underlying cause with counseling an or medication, depending on the situation.


I won't go into detail about what that involves in this blog but strongly recommend that if you feel you or anyone you know has a drinking problem then please seek help through your GP, a community drug and alcohol center or similar.
Do not try and stop drinking on your own if you are a heavy drinker as the complications and withdrawal can be life threatening.


These days we do not tell people "you must not drink".
That is unrealistic.
We encourage you to drink safely and look at the benefits and disadvantages for yourself to either address your problem or chose to ignore it.


If you are serious about considering reducing your alcohol please draw up a chart.
On one side have the headings:
Benefits of not drinking, disadvantages of not drinking
Then draw a similar table using the heading Benefits of drinking, disadvantages of drinking.
When you have done this, review what you have written.
This will give you an idea regarding how alcohol is affecting you and hopefully motivate you to look at what you plan and or need to do if your drinking is excessive or more than you would like, or exceeds the guidelines recommended:
# these charts can also be used if you have concerns about drug use


Guidelines
Factors such as gender, age, mental health, drug use, and existing medical conditions can change how alcohol affects you.
Responsible drinking is about balancing your enjoyment of alcohol with the potential risks and harm that may arise from drinking - especially if you go beyond low risk drinking levels.

For healthy men and women, drinking no more than two standard drinks on any day reduces your risk of harm from alcohol-related disease or injury over a lifetime.

Drinking no more than four standard drinks on a single occasion reduces the risk of alcohol-related injury arising from that occasion.  (Australian Government department of Health)

Some other tips to reduce how alcohol can affect you and reduce your consumption are:
- Never drink on an empty stomach, try and have some foods high in carbohydrates before you drink
- Eat food whilst drinking, have some nibbles that you can munch on
- Try and have drinks that has a lower percentage of alcohol
- Drink a glass of water between each drink
- If you are a white wine drinker, try and mix half of your drink with soda water or mineral water or even orange juice
- If you drink spirits only pour a half nip instead of a full nip
- Some people fear getting ridiculed by their peers if they don't have alcohol so a handy tip is to drink ginger beer that is non alcoholic with a stubby cooler around it, the feedback I have had from clients who have tried this has been positive
- Drink slowly


Hopefully this information can help you identify if you need to assess your current drinking amounts and how to look at making a decision regarding whether or not you want to change.


For more information regarding how I can help you, please visit my website:
http://www.valkeenalifecoachaustralia.com/